Urgent need for volunteers after Montreal shelter floods during intense storm

Resilience Montreal, a non-profit day shelter on the corner of Atwater Avenue and Sainte-Catherine Street, is in desperate need of volunteers to help with clean-up efforts after its basement flooded during the intense thunderstorm Thursday.

"A lot of the donations we get are all in the basement, so what happens with that building is whenever it rains -- and it's been going on for years -- the basement floods," explained Nakuset, co-founder of Resilience Montreal. "We keep all the clothes and the shoes and the dry goods and all that is in the basement, and now it's all under water."

She says staff have been working since early Friday morning to clean up the destruction, but with the shelter's doors set to open at 7:30 a.m., more people are needed so workers can focus on their actual jobs.

"You have to understand; an enormous line starts at 7 a.m. and goes all the way down the street, so we can't have the staff in the basement when they need to be making the food and helping the people, but it's pretty bad," Nakuset said. "It's going to cost money to get rid of everything that is now ruined and to try to keep services."

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Resilience Montreal (@resiliencemontreal)

Anyone looking to help out can simply show up at the back door and say they're there to volunteer with the clean-up effort.

"If people show up, that would be great because that's what we need," she said. "We need people to show up and help."

Nakuset says her main concern now is that more rain is predicted to hit Montreal, which could threaten the building once more.

Anyone looking to bring donations can contact the shelter via their e-mail: [e-mail]